PREFACE 



looks to be only a few inches deep, the sides and bottom 

 are certainly not well defined, if they exist at all. 



I had a practical demonstration of this last autumn 

 when I attempted to step across on a fallen maple 

 which had evidently been there longer than I had 

 supposed. It crumbled beneath me, and T went down 

 until the water reached my waist — but even then I 

 had failed to touch bottom. By grasping a convenient 

 sapling, I managed to get myself out without much 

 difficulty. In doing so, I kicked out beneath the 

 banks as far as my legs would reach without touch- 

 ing anything more substantial than water-soaked 

 roots and leaves, and further investigation along the 

 same brook convinced me that the greater part of 

 the swamp [which is several miles in extent^ is still 

 in the earlier stages of growth, while most of the 

 other swamps in the vicinity are much farther 

 advanced in the process of earth-making. 



The water courses of this region belong largely 

 to one type. 'They have their sources in damp woods, 

 among low-lying hills and pasture lands hardly fifty 



